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Myths versus facts about the sexual life of transgender people

Boekbijdrage - Boekabstract Conferentiebijdrage

In the media, our society and also research, the focus is often on the genitals of trans people. Genital surgery is still regularly seen as an anticipated step in a transition and as a prerequisite for sexual pleasure. Through our data, we highlight the great variability of experiences with regard to sexual pleasure in trans persons who have or did not decide to undergo phalloplasty, metoidioplasty or vaginoplasty. In addition, we focus on the diversity of sexual experiences in trans people. As part of the ENIGI (A European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence) study (van de Grift et al., 2017), sexual pleasure was measured in 325 transgender people, 6 years after their initial contact with a genderteam using the ASPI (Amsterdam Sexual Pleasure Index). The degree of satisfaction with different sexual practices was asked using multiple choice questions. Three myths have been investigated and illustrated using short clinical vignettes. The first myth is that transgender people without genital affirming surgery cannot experience sexual pleasure. The second myth is that trans men don’t like vaginal penetration. And the last myth that trans women don’t like to penetrate. On group level transgender people who have undergone genital affirming surgery (GAS) reported the same amount of sexual pleasure as transgender people who started medical affirming treatment (e.g. HRT) but did not have GAS. In both groups there was a great variability in sexual pleasure scores. Although the majority of trans men said vaginal penetration was not applicable to them, a minority was fairly to very satisfied with being penetrated. In particular trans men in relationship with a homo- or bisexual men reported being satisfied by the feeling of excitement with the penetration of a penis in the vagina. Similarly the majority of trans women said using the penis was not applicable to them. A minority was fairly to very satisfied by using the penis for vaginal penetration. There are trans men who are very satisfied to be penetrated and trans women who are very satisfied with penetrating a sexual partner with their penis. It is important to talk to trans people without making assumptions about their sexuality and genitals. In addition, the diversity of sexual experiences should be taken into account in counseling about sexual health (e.g. talking about prevention of cervical cancer, unwanted pregnancy, …).
Boek: 5th EPATH Conference, Abstracts
Aantal pagina's: 1
Jaar van publicatie:2023
Toegankelijkheid:Open